Bond actor reveals he is gay, married

Ben Whishaw has confirmed he is gay and married to his partner since last year.

The 32-year-old actor - who is best known for playing Q in the James Bond movie Skyfall - revealed he entered into a civil partnership with Australian composer Mark Bradshaw in August 2012.

A spokesperson for the actor said: "Ben has never hidden his sexuality, but like many actors he prefers not to discuss his family or life outside of his work.

"Due to speculation, I can confirm that Ben and Mark entered into a civil partnership in August 2012. They were proud to do so and are very happy."

Ben and Mark, 30, met on the set of Jane Campion's 2009 movie Bright Star, which Ben starred in and Mark composed the score for.

A friend told MailOnline: "Everyone's delighted for them. Mark's a lovely guy, very talented and very close to Jane Campion. There hasn't been a chance for a big celebration because of Ben's schedule but I'm sure there will be one at some point."

Ben attracted speculation about his sexuality in a previous interview when he was asked whether it was important for young gay people to have positive role models and replied: "I feel in my heart that it's important, but I don't quite know yet the way to go about that. Maybe that's the transitional thing I feel I'm in the middle of at the moment."

However, the actor is notoriously private about his personal life and has said: "For me, it's important to keep a level of anonymity. As an actor, your job is to persuade people that you're someone else. So if you're constantly telling people about yourself, I think you're shooting yourself in the foot."